That Brazilian defensive line is going to so talented in 2014, with one of Dante or Luiz partnering Silva between Marcelo and Alves. I've still got big questions about the double pivot in front of them and how much cover they'll get from the attackers, but damn.

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BK

Quote:

Originally Posted by AcheTen

JPP is a better and more productive player than Brandon Graham

Quote:

Originally Posted by abaddon41_80

Is Shaun Hill a top 10 QB? Definitely not. Is he a top 20 one? Almost certainly.

Talent does just ooze from that back 4. Luiz and Marcelo scare me though....not the most reliable/consistent players. Luiz because he sometimes thinks he is a CF and Marcelo because, well, he's a moron.....a very talented moron.

That's why I think that they should use Dante-Silva if those two work together. Dante's just amazing, so consistent, great at organizing his defense and making sure everyone knows what's going on and where they should be, plus he's a great athlete and can really get up for headers. Luiz is a great talent, but Dante's so much more experienced and stronger mentally that he worries me more as a title rival. Marcelo wouldn't worry too much, with Silva and Dante thinking for him he'd be great. It's Alves getting old and not getting back as quickly that I think is the weakness of the backline. Well that and the double-pivot.

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BK

Quote:

Originally Posted by AcheTen

JPP is a better and more productive player than Brandon Graham

Quote:

Originally Posted by abaddon41_80

Is Shaun Hill a top 10 QB? Definitely not. Is he a top 20 one? Almost certainly.

That's why I think that they should use Dante-Silva if those two work together. Dante's just amazing, so consistent, great at organizing his defense and making sure everyone knows what's going on and where they should be, plus he's a great athlete and can really get up for headers. Luiz is a great talent, but Dante's so much more experienced and stronger mentally that he worries me more as a title rival. Marcelo wouldn't worry too much, with Silva and Dante thinking for him he'd be great. It's Alves getting old and not getting back as quickly that I think is the weakness of the backline. Well that and the double-pivot.

Not to mention the WC is in Rio... and all the other talent like Neymar, Lucas Moura, Oscar, Pato, Damiao, etc... plus one of the world's best holding mids (when healthy) in Lucas Leiva (who will be in his prime).. Brazil and Germany both have incredibly bright futures. I do rate Germany a bit higher, but it's real close.

EDIT: I just gotta talk about the World Cup some more. I really can't wait for Rio. One of the teams I'm looking forward to seeing is Belgium with all their young talent. Argentina obviously will be very good as well. And of course, you can't forget about Spain either. Interested to see Spain's squad, it'll be tough to drop some of the older players from the past, should be some tough decisions

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"Compadres, it is imperative that we crush the freedom fighters before the start of the rainy season. And remember, a shiny new donkey for whomever brings me the head of Colonel Montoya."

I just gotta talk about the World Cup some more. I really can't wait for Rio. One of the teams I'm looking forward to seeing is Belgium with all their young talent. Argentina obviously will be very good as well. And of course, you can't forget about Spain either. Interested to see Spain's squad, it'll be tough to drop some of the older players from the past, should be some tough decisions

I'm interested to see what goes down with France. They are so goddamn deep.

we defended like **** today, but i'm proud of the team for actually playing like they wanted to win.

vurnon anita's injury is worrying, with all the injuries we have atm. especially in the midfield with cabaye and ben arfa out. looks like perch and bigirimana will be playing more games than they should be over the christmas/new years period. we get tiote back though, which is a plus.

we should take confidence into the next game, but i dont know how emotionally spent our players will be. we could either go in with the momentum from today, or our level of play could drop completely.

but only point from our next two games would actually still be quite encouraging.

Great performance from Newcastle...deserved a point for sure. Shame about Anita, hopefully it's not as bad as it looked.....he's been our best player over the past month or so. That challenge should've been a second yellow.

For how strongly Rodgers talks of his top CB pair, they sure do give up a lot of dumb goals..

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"Compadres, it is imperative that we crush the freedom fighters before the start of the rainy season. And remember, a shiny new donkey for whomever brings me the head of Colonel Montoya."